It has been about a month since my last race report, but it sure has been an awesome month!

During spring break we had round 4 of the WORCS series in Lake Havasu, Az. This has always been one of my favorite races. The atmosphere around the track is awesome and there is a ton of people in town for spring break. The track is also walking distance from the most popular place in town. Going into this race I was feeling really good and I had been doing a ton of training on my sand track. Due to the fact that there is no starting gate at this track we always do a dead engine start, which I like because the Kawasaki's always start really easily. On day 1 I got an awesome jump and just about had the holeshot, but Mike Brown swept me on the outside. The first couple laps I rode right behind Brown and just checked out some of his lines. I was able to get around him on the third lap, and from that point on I just rode my own mistake free race and took the checkered flag 40 seconds ahead of Kyle Summers who got around Brown shortly after I did.

Day 2 was very similar to day 1. I got another awesome start and was just behind my teammate Justin Soule. I was able to get around Justin in the 2nd turn and set a pretty quick pace. Kyle Summers was doing an awesome job of keeping me honest though. On lap 4 I washed out the front end and got right back up behind Summers. It took me another lap or two to get back around him, and then really charge the last half of the race. Aside from my one tip over, I felt like I had a flawless race and was able to take the checkered 50 seconds ahead of Brown who had a really good battle with Summers. I was really excited to go 1-1 at the biggest WORCS race of the year and extend my points lead to 8 ahead of Brown.

After Havasu I put my 450 on the back burner and started to put a lot of time on my 250 Endurocross bike. The first round of Endurocross is the Friday night before Las Vegas, Supercross which is coming up very quickly. Now that Endurocross is getting bigger and more recognized people are putting a lot more effort into preparing for it. Tracks are starting to pop up everywhere, which is great for the riders because we can put a lot more variety in our practice routines. I spent almost a week out in California and had an awesome time riding with some friends. I was able to ride 5 different Endurocross tracks in 7 days. I am feeling more comfortable and confident on the endurocross track, so I am very excited to start the season.

Last week I pulled the 450 back out and threw down some moto's on it because Round 5 of the WORCS series was at my home track, Speedworld, in Surprise, Az. Preparing my body for this race was key because the weather forecasted triple digit weather for both Saturday and Sunday. Needless to say I cranked up the AC and kept hydrated. I felt really confident going into this race because it is in near my house and I won this round the previous two years. When saturday's race rolled around the weather was up to 102 degrees. As the gate dropped on Saturday I spun quite a bit off the concrete and didn't get the greatest start. I was able to make quick work of the few guys in front of me and close up to Mike Brown's rear tire who was leading. Luckily for me Brown didn't realize we were going through hot pits on the first lap and I was able to sneak by him. He jumped right back in behind me and started pushing me pretty good. Before I knew it Brown and I were in a race of our own putting in laps that were nearly 20 seconds faster than the rest of the field. At about the half way mark I could tell that the heat was really kicking in, but I was still able to hold a really good pace to the finish. When I finally saw the checkered flag I was glad because even my seat felt hot to sit down on from the scorching sun. Brown came in just over a minute behind me and my teammate Justin Soule rounded out the podium for Saturday.

After the race I went home, relaxed, rehydrated, and watched some tv. This was definitely nice, because this is the only race the whole year that I can sleep in my own bed. I got back out the the track on Sunday, was feeling great and looking forward to capturing another overall. Sunday was almost deja vu to Saturday. I got a little better start, but Brown got the holeshot again. I got in behind him and we started pushing pretty hard, and luckily for me again Brown overshot a turn in the off-road section which I was able to capitalize on. I rode another mistake free race all the way to finish line to go 1-1 for the overall. It felt awesome to have two perfect WORCS races in a row and extend my points lead to 25.

I hope to see you all at the Endurocross race next weekend in Las Vegas, and the next WORCS round at Racetown 395 in Victorville, California.

Taylor Robert
TRobert33.com

Cool note about the race: My finishing time on Sunday was one hour, 33 minutes, and 33 seconds.